Independent Investigation of Authority

Thoughts on Ruhi

I am curious about Ruhi, a Baha’i deepening program. What is “deepening”? One might say it’s spiritual education or indoctrination.

I am curious about Ruhi because I have heard so many aweful remarks about it. I’ve been told to try it for myself, but I don’t think that’s likely to happen, given that I am a rather outspoken apostate, and frankly, it’s really not designed for the likes of me.

This page is intended to be a slate for me to work out my thoughts on Ruhi upon.

My source is the Ruhi Resources site, which outlines the seven Ruhi books and the units within them.

The Emphasis of Ruhi

One thing that I have noticed is that most of these books concern matters of communicating doctrines, as opposed to discussing the doctrines themselves; for example: teaching oneself (reading and deepening), teaching children, teaching non-Baha’is (proselytizing), teaching Baha’is, and well, teaching Ruhi itself (“tutoring”).

It appears to me that the one book that is almost entirely about the primary beliefs of the Baha’i Faith is Book I (Reflections on the Life of the Spirit). Books IV and VII appear to be a mix of primary content and preparation for communicating that content. The remainder of the program is mostly about communication (proselytism and indoctrination).